An "extraordinary amount" of work remains before Chrysler is
motoring along, says the man charged with turning around the auto-maker.

Sergio Marchionne, the Fiat executive who has been running the Detroit company since it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last June, called 2010 a year of "transition and stabilisation" after it became the only major American marque to report a drop in sales in the first six months of the year.

However, he did say that the company could float in New York as soon as next year, allowing the US and Canadian governments to recoup some of the $15.5bn (£9.7bn) they invested to save Chrysler from total collapse.

Chrysler did, however, manage to stem its losses in the second three months of the year, reporting a second quarter loss of $172m against $197m in the same period in the three months to March.

The narrower loss was on the back of an 8.2pc increase in sales to $10.5bn in the second quarter.

The numbers came despite of reports from the Associated Press suggesting that although the US car industry saw an 11pc rise in sales in the first half of the year, Chrysler's sales – many of which were to government and corporate fleets, which tend to be less profitable than individuals – fell by 21pc.

Fiat has been running Chrysler since last year, after its Chapter 11 filing, with its restructuring seeing the Italian car maker taking an initial 20pc stake in return for transferring billions of dollars of technology and ideas, as well as taking control of the business. To stave off failure, Chrysler also accepted $15.5bn from the US and Canadian governments while the United Auto Workers union received a 55pc stake in return for foregoing payments to its healthcare trust.